$C^1$ perturbations of a continuum of critical points

Abstract

Given a real valued function having a nondegenerate compact manifold of critical points, some of these points survive under small $C^2$ perturbations. This is a well-known result in critical point theory. In 1986 Weinstein obtained the analogous conclusions when the perturbation is only $C^2$ and the ambient space is a finite dimensional manifold. In this work we present a complete proof for $C^1$ perturbations in infinite dimensional Hilbert spaces.